Packing material



July 8, 1952 M. R. CANNON PACKING MATERIAL Fi led March 2, 1948 INVENTOR. fl/cb ae/A. Can/700 Patented July 8, 1952 ;Scien.tific;l)evelonment 00., State College, Pa,-

This inventionrelates to packing material for use in phase'rea'cticn devices. 'Mor'e partic'u i -1y, it relatesto packing 111i made of sheetmaterial *such 'as sheetrnetal, and vuponthesu-ioiac'e of 'Whicha substituent of one phas' maybebrought into intimate contact; withasubstituent of the same or of a difierent phase:

7 Generally speaking, the .fi-nvention provides "packing material which comprises units of thin sheets or sections of metal, each unit beingshaped so that it does-not entirely lie within-the same plane. Each surface or side of the unit'preferabl-y has a =plura'lityof perforations extending therethrough, each perforati'onfon one-side being-usuallysur'iken or'recessed with respedtto the adjacentsurrounding {surf ace and on the-opposite side being surrounded'by a protrusion or burr extending outwardly from the surface of the metal. The

"units are further characterizedby havingat'least about 1 perforations or openings per square inch. 'vl h-ilethe perioraticns' ineach unit may be 'located'inany arrangement,=random or otherwise;

for convenience in --forxni-ng they are preferably grouped inadiacentrows', and each row on the said first side of each =u'nit may nor-may not be separated from each adjacent row "by an outwardlyextendingridge. 1

. The invention-may be better understood by referring to the accompanying zd-rawings in which illustrative embodiments-are'shown. and which:

.JEigs. 31-19 are enlarged'iperspective v.=:vieyvs3.of variously-shaped packing and iFig, 10 is a broken outu. 'ew .of the "units =.as

they appear. in-ta :p'hase reaction deviceor column.

' "II he' shape' of theipaclcing units is variable. They "may, for example, be cylindrical in sh-ape,

tor semi-0yl indr-ical, orhave the shape of :any

other part =of a cylinder.- :They' may have a saddle shape, an angleshape (if-relativelysimple-form,

the shape of an S, a trough-shape'yor' a mul-tiple trough shape. They mayalso have a spiral-shape, a spherical, conoida'l, or pyramidal *shape, or the shape of any par-t offa' sphere, cone, or pyramid. Some of these shapes are illustrated in the-:drawing. Thus, in Figj 1 is -'-'shown a semi-cylindrical device t!) =o-frelatively short length and having transverse rows H -offopcning s 7 t2. The openings are sunken with respect to the-surface of the device, -i.- e the metal arealla :immdiatlysurrounding the opening slopes down'wa-rdly toward 'theopening froi'nthe-adjacent metal-area M. Intermediate adjacent rows of the openingslare transverse ridges-or ribs l5. On th'e unders'ide 46 =of the unit are protrusions or burrs H which are formed when the openings 1 2 are made in the -a=c0rporat iono f Pennsylvania I f' 'app icat niyi ch 2, 1948, Serial No. 12,490

'1 Claims. (01. 261-95) tudinally of the unit and are separated by the .shown in Fig. 3. :openings. 29 alternating with transv,erse.ridges;3fl.

'unit. The opem'ngs on'both sides of the'unit may be circulalg a's shown, or irregular.

When a quantity of the units is packed in a phasereaction device such as a distillation, xtraction, or absorption columnythe burrs l1 semze to space one'unit from anotherin contact therewith and so permit fluids to .fiow through the packed mass. A spacing effect is also obtained as a result of the geometric shape of the :unit as awhole. w

In Fig. 2 is shown anotherunit 19 of semi-cylindrical form but of somewhat greater-length than the unit :of Fig. l. The'holesifl Ofthis-unit have a more or less rectangular shape. .-;In this case the rows 2! of the openings extend long-ilongitudinal ridges 22. Each openin is sunken, as indicated at 23, with respect to the metal area .24 immediately surroundingit, and the rows of openings have a sunken 10.1" recessed appea ance relative .to the adjacentridg s. h openings ininate incprotrusions ,or burrs 25 .on the ng side of the unit.

1 A V-shaped rectangular appearing unit 2 1 is It has transverse rows ;28' of Each opening is sunken in the uppenside-ofthe unit iand'terminates in a'burr 3i--on-theunderside of the unit. r

.In Fig. 4 is shown a unit '33 which-was originally square shaped but inwhich one pairofppposite corners "34, 35 are bent upward-1y and the-other pair of corners 36, 37 bent'downwardly. Openings 38 are shown-as havi-ng .a circular shape, and as in the devices previously described, are arranged. in the form of rowsa39 alternating with ridges 40. Each opening terminates on the under surface of the-unit inaburrd I In this form of .unit'theplo trusions 48 appear .on I

the outer surfaces .of the device.

"Fig. 6 illustrates a device 50 having -what"may be termed a semi-S shape. Theopenings 51 are arranged in rows Silas in :theprevious cases, but

there are no ridges adjacent ea'ch' row; "Each opening has a corresponding iburr153 on the :op-

lposi'te side of the unit. 1

An S-ehaped unit 55 is shown in Fig. 7 on-a =more'enlarged scale than in the preceding figrures. As in the previous cases; the openings fiii "arearranged in rows 51 and have corresponding protrusions 58 on the opposite side of the unit. Ridges 59 alternate with the rows of openings.

A variation of the semi-cylindrical unit of Fig. 2 is shown in Fig. 8, one of the edges 6| of the unit being bent to one side. Openings 62 are arranged in rows 63 and have the protrusions 64. The ridges, however, are absent. Fig. 9 represents still another variation of Fig. 2, a pairof corners 65, 66 being bent to one side, as shown, and the usual rows of openings 61 terminating in the protrusions 68.

In general, the shape of the units may partly 1 "device. It may serve to bring into contact with each other pairs of substances for liquid-liquid phase contacting, or liquid-gas contacting, or gasgas, liquid-solid, or gas-solid contacting. More than two substances may be brought into con tact with one another at the same time. Y

' The size of the packing units is also variable,

'but generally they are of comparativelysmall size, being especially suitable for precision work. For this-purpose they are preferably-about A; to about /2 inch wide and about to about inch long. The surface area of one side of such a unit should be at least about square inch and may 'vary up to about /4 square inch. The thickness of the foregoing sizes may range from about 0.001 to about 0.02 inch, depending to some extent upon sidered to be made of thin material. For stainless steel units the thickness may be as low as 0.001 inch. Nickel units of about 0.003 inch thickness have been found to be satisfactory. Other suitable metals for the units include brass, copper, aluminum, various alloys, etc. The choice of metal, of course, will depend upon its cost and upon the materials to be brought into contact with each other. For larger phase reaction devices the units may have a major dimension, i. e. the length, of up to about 2 inches with the other dimensions proportional to it.

The number of perforations or openings in each unit is variable, but they should be suiiicient to cause liquids to readily wet, or crawl up, the

units. As will be appreciated, when a liquid touches one side of ja. unit, it tends to transfer itself through the openings and around the edges of the unit and wet the other side, due to the effect of surface or interfacial tension. The more openings there are,the more readily the entire area of the unit Will become wetted. On a numerical basis, there should be at least 100 openings'per square inch, preferably about 1000, and there may be as many as 1600. r

As indicated, the spacing of one unit with respect to others in a packed mass of the units 'may be a function of boththe shape of the unit and of the presence of the burrs. The first of these factors is evidenced'by the fact that all of the units have their surface area distributed 'in at least two planes. The spacing effect may, however, be substantially the result of one or the the kind of metal employed. In this connection, 'units of the foregoing range of thickness are conother of these factors. For example, the burrs may be so large as to act as the sole spacing parts; or in some cases the shape of the unit may be made sufficiently irregular as to enable the unit to adequately space itself, the burrs and openings being eliminated. An example of the latter shape is a unit in the form of an S.

A significant advantageof the packing units, as above described, is that they are considerably less expensive than conventional packing materials such as those made from metal screen material, i. e., so-called wire cloth, or from single or multiple wire coils. The cost of the present units, for example, may run from about onefifth to one-seventh as much as the conventional materials referred to. In addition, the units are at least equal, or superior, to conventional materials. In respect to the wire coils, the present units have the advantage of being more readily wetted, and hence their efliciency tends to be greater. In regard to metal screen material, the presentv units are characterized by having a greater contact area since the metal displaced to form the, perforations still remains as a part of the packing; also, the displaced metal, which is in the form of a burr, acts as a spacer and so prevents the units from packing so densely as to hinder thepassage of fluids therebetween.

I In the light of the foregoing description, the

"following is claimed:

1. Packingmaterial for enabling material of one phase to be brought into intimate contact with material of another phase consisting of individual units of thin sheet metal, each unit having its surface area distributed in at least two planes, the surface area of one side of each unit varyingfrom about to about A; square inch, each unit having a plurality of openings therein with said openings occurring in at least two planes of the unit, each opening on one side of each saidunit being sunken below the level of the adjacent surface while on the other side of the unit the opening is substantially surrounded by a protrusion or burr, said burrs together with the geometric shape of each said unit aiding to space one unit from another when the units are packed together in bulk, and the number of openings in each said unit varying from about to about 1600 per square inch.

2. Packingmaterial for enablingmaterial of one phase to be brought into intimate contact with material of another phase consisting of individual units of thin sheet material, the surface area of one side of each unit varying from about A to about square inch, each unit having a plurality of openings therein, each opening on one side of each said unit being substantially surrounded by a protrusion or burr, said .burrs aiding to space one unit from another when the units are packed together in bulk, and the number of openings in each said unit varying from about 100 to about 16.00 per square inch.

3. Packing material for enabling material of one phase to be brought into intimate contact with material of another phase consisting of individual units of thin sheet material, each unit having its surface area distributedin at, least two planes, the surface area of one side of each unit being at least 4 square inch, each unit having a plurality of openings therein distributed in at least two planar surfaces of the unit, each openmg on one side of each said unit being substantially surrounded by a protrusion or burr, said burrs together with the geometricv shape of each said 'unit aiding to space one unit from another when the units are packed together in'bulk, and the number of openings in each said unit being at least 100 per square inch.

4. Packing material for enabling material of one phase to be brought into intimate contact with material of another phase consisting of in-' dividual multiplanar units of thin sheetmaterial,

the surface area of one side of each unit being at least ,4 square inch, each unit having a plurality of openings therein, each opening on one each unit having multiplanar surfaces, a plurality of perforations extending through each unit and distributed throughout said surfaces, each perforation on one side being surrounded by an outwardly extending burr and the number of said perforations being at least 100 per square inch. said units being adapted to be packed within a confined space so that each unit comes into contact with other units, and said burrs aiding to space one unit from another in contact therewith and so render apacked mass of the units relatively porous. I

6. Packing material upon the surface of which a substance of one phase may be contacted with a substance of the same or a different phase which comprises multiplanar units of thin sheets of metal, each unit having a plurality of perforations extending therethrough and distributed in various planar surfaces of the unit, each perforation on one side being surrounded by an outwardly extending burr and the number of said perforations being at least 100 per square inch, and said units being adapted to be packed within a confined space so that each unit comes into contact with other units.

7. Packing material for enabling material of one phase to be brought into intimate contact with material of another phase consisting of individual units of thin sheet metal, each unit having its surface area distributed in at least two planes, the surface area of one side of each unit varying. from about & to about A square inch,

each unit having a plurality of protrusions therein distributed in at least two planar surfaces of the unit, each said protrusion terminating in an opening, said units being adapted to be packed within a confined space so that each unit comes into contact with other units, said protrusions together with the geometric shape of each said unit aiding to space one unit from another in contact therewith and so render a packed mass of the units relatively porous, and the number of openings in each said unit being at least 1000 per square inch.

MICHAEL R. CANNON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,796,501 Berl Mar. 17, 1931 2,206,440 Walker July 2, 1940 2,212,932 Fairlie Aug. 2'7, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 542,902 France May 24, 1922 302,753 Germany Dec: 23, 1917 

